Motor vehicles have, since their inception, required a means for slowing and stopping the vehicle. Over time, two types of brake systems developed for that purpose. One such system is the drum brake, which uses friction caused by a set of opposing shoes or pads when they press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped drum to which the wheel is engaged. In more recent times, a second mode of wheel braking developed using calipers which compress opposing pads upon a rotor engaged with the wheel.
Caliper braking has proven to be a significant improvement over drum brakes and is conventionally employed on at least the front wheels of modern autos and truck. In use, the two opposing pads are compressed against the perimeter of a rotor engaged to the axle of the wheel they are intended to brake. In use, a pressing of the brake pedal on the vehicle causes the caliper holding the opposing pads to compress against the rotor thereby slowing the wheels and the vehicle.
While the employment of calipers with opposing pads in disk brake systems improves braking, there are a number of problems associated with such systems from an owner's standpoint. Unlike drum brakes, which tend to prevent dust from the shoes from contacting the wheel rim, calipers inherently eject brake shoe dust onto the wheel and caliper during use due to the open caliper and force of the rotor running through it. The dust is the byproduct of the frictional engagement of the brake pads with the spinning rotor during stopping of the wheel. While functionally not a serious problem, most drivers consider the brake dust unsightly on the caliper when viewed through holes in the wheel. Further, many drivers consider the caliper itself unsightly.
Other problems associated with braking systems employing calipers and rotors, are heat generation during from the frictional engagement of the brake discs with the rotor, and additionally the communication of the dust from the brake pads not only to the caliper but to a sticky engagement upon the wheels and surface of the car and surrounding wheel well.
One prior art remedy concerning the caliper dust employed covers for the calipers in an attempt to hide them from view and limit dust communication. However, previous caliper covers generally glue to the caliper which is unsafe and hard to remove or require the removal of the caliper from its mount and the employment of special tools and mounting components to provide a mount for the caliper cover. This is beyond the scope of most owner's skills and tool collections. Other caliper covers have been disclosed using connectors to an edge of the caliper. However, such are not functional for calipers configured for insertion and removal of the disc pads through a top opening.
As such, there exists an unmet need for a caliper cover mounting system that will engage and disengage easily with a brake caliper having an open end opposite the wheel for insertion and removal of disc pads. Such a caliper cover mounting system should be configured to easily engage with existing caliper pins and housings and provide a secure engagement of the cover to the caliper. Such a system should be configured to allow for translation of the cover toward and away from the caliper, but also provide limitation to prevent contact with the spinning wheel adjacent the cover. Finally, such a caliper cover mounting system should provide aesthetic enhancement of the view of the caliper through the slots of the wheel, and be configured to prevent dust from sticking to the wheel and also provide cooling to the caliper using air venting past the cover on a moving vehicle.